I cover real estate, writing about everything from trends in the housing market to ultra high-end luxury listings to data-based cities lists. Real estate is in my blood thanks to a realtor for a mom and a property developer/landlord for a dad. I have had a front row seat for the real estate market's inflation and subsequent crash over the past decade, watching my dad carry on with underwater mortgages and my mom struggle to put home sales together. I have been both a homeowner and a renter in the New York area and can't decide which I prefer.
I am also a regular guest on the 'Forbes on Fox' show on Fox News every Saturday morning and can sometimes be found discussing the major business headlines of the week on MSNBC's 'Weekends with Alex Witt.'
Before taking on the real estate beat, I worked as an Anchor/Reporter in Forbes Video. These days I shoot videos of crazy homes.
I graduated from New York University in 2009 with a BA in Anthropology and prior to that I worked in the other end of media as a recording artist with Sony.
If you have tips, story ideas or listings to submit for consideration, email me at mbrennan@forbes.com.

3 Reasons The 'Bubble-Like' Surge In Home Prices Won't Last

The “bubble” word has reentered the real estate conversation and with it, much worried comparison between current market conditions and those of the mid-2000s housing bubble.

It’s easy to see why the word has been resuscitated: thanks to low inventory levels coupled with burgeoning buyer demand, many markets are indeed becoming frothy. Bidding wars have erupted in the most desirable neighborhoods and some buyers have started adopting pre-2007 tricks to win those face-offs including worrisome non-contingent offers at full asking price or higher.

In turn home price indexes have jumped. The S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indexes reported that nationally home prices grew 11% in March from a year earlier — the highest rate of appreciation since 2006. Among the hottest markets were Las Vegas, Phoenix, and San Francisco, all of which posted about 20% annual price growth. It followed 9% year-over-year growth the month before and is expected to show similar gains in this week’s April report.

Earlier this month, another report posted similar findings. Nationally, the median sales price of previously owned homes shot up more than 15% in May from a year earlier, according to the National Association of Realtors, in the strongest yearly price gain seen since October 2005. It marked the sixth straight month of double-digit price increases and the 15th consecutive month of year-over-year price increases. And the last time the existing home sale price climbed that steadfastly was from March 2005 through May 2006.

If home prices were to continue growing by such leaps and bounds, the possibility of a bubble would truly need to be taken seriously. But use of the B word is still painfully premature, especially as some states like New York and New Jersey continue to wade through a mound of foreclosures.

Real estate is cyclical, the new cycle commencing about two years ago according to economists. And prices are still rising off of extremely depressed bottoms. Large housing-related gains are not uncommon or unexpected– be it the triple-digit runs of homebuilder stocks on the NYSE or the huge percentage jumps logged in new construction.

But before we start worrying about unsustainable home prices and the future bubble they could inflate, let’s take a look at several factors emerging now that will likely make that worrisome run-up in home prices slow down in coming months.

1. Inventory Levels Won’t Stay Tight

Nationally, inventory levels have been incredibly tight since last year — even leading to nascent housing shortages in some markets. Thanks to both a dearth of new home building during the downturn and the fact that 9.7 million homeowners still owe more on their underwater mortgages than their homes are worth, the supply of available homes is down by 10% since last year.

But inventory is slowly starting to ease. As prices increase more owners become right-sided on their mortgages, a financial factor that enables them to more easily list and sell their homes. Confidence among prospective sellers is rising, with 40% of Americans believing now is a good time to sell, according to a Fannie MaeFannie Mae survey, up from 30% a month ago and 16% a year ago.

Other real estate companies have found similar results. ZillowZillow, for example, recently reported that the number of listings on its national platform on June 2, 2013 were down 12% from the same day a year earlier. Yet, despite that decline, the total represented an increase from the 17.5% decline logged in six months ago, in January.

Another factor beginning to positively affect supply: new construction. Home builders are starting to roll out projects again. In May housing starts rose nearly 29% from a year earlier to an annual rate of 914,000 units, according to the Commerce Department, and building permits climbed 21% to an annualized rate of 974,000. Apartment housing has led the residential construction rebound thus far but new single-family homes are beginning to materialize as well: builders broke ground on homes at an annualized pace of 599,000, representing a 16% increase over last year. While that’s still markedly lower than the 1.3 million homes per year considered a healthy pace, it’s 50% higher than it was at the worst of the downturn.

“Inventory will likely remain below year-ago levels for a while yet, as builders ramp up capacity and sellers wait to squeeze every drop of equity from their home before listing. But a corner has been turned,” Stan Humphries, chief economist of Zillow, recently asserted. “Going forward, as this new supply makes its way to market, we expect the pace of home value appreciation to slow down from unsustainably high annual levels of 5% or above to more moderate levels closer to historic norms of 3% or 4%.”

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